New Dispensary Licenses Become Available in Nevada in September

Forty-two new Nevada recreational marijuana dispensary licenses become available this month.

Applications will be accepted from September 7 – 20, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The chosen applicants can expect to see licenses issued in December. The new businesses could open in December, providing that all facilities pass inspections and licenses are issued quickly.

Stephanie Klapstein of the Department of Taxation said, “We have 90 days to process applications and issue decisions. We’re working to do this carefully yet efficiently.”

Only two of Nevada’s current 63 marijuana dispensaries remain medical only. The other 61 cater to both medical and recreational customers.

The new licenses are for recreational marijuana sales only. City Councilman Bob Coffin also wants to require the new recreational-only dispensaries carry products such as tinctures and lozenges that cater specifically to medical marijuana patients. He wants to see medical marijuana remain part of the industry.

Coffin said, “We’re trying to thread the needle because we really don’t want to have a moratorium on new dispensaries. There has to be a middle ground, and we’re working on developing that. Medical led the way in this state, and we want to keep the industry as medical as possible.”

Several lawmakers are hoping that the increase in legal marijuana dispensaries will deplete the black market further. An increase in legal availability may also help prices come down a bit to make the legal market more affordable.

The state has 120 cultivators and 85 processors. More may be added once the supply and demand factors are recalculated when the new licenses are issued, and those 42 new retailers are operational.

Klapstein said, “Once the dispensary licenses are issued, we’ll do an analysis before deciding whether to add more production facilities. That step is still several months away.”